Young Justice S1E01, 02: I Geek Out
If there's one thing I can definitely ramble on about for a while, it's comic. Well, and movies. And cartoons. And comic movies. But still, comics this time. And rambling I shall do.
Young Justice is a new animated series on Cartoon Network, created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti, Weisman the creator of Gargoyles and producer of Spectacular Spider-Man, so that's a well endorsed resume, and frankly the show looks to kick. ASS.
I have a history with the comic YJ. It was the first series I seriously followed, having previously only watched cartoons based on comics and collected various titles sporadically. But with YJ, I read and bought as many back and current issues as I could, because I just loved it.
It's times like this I wish I had a webcam to do this stuff.
Young Justice, to explain, was a team of sidekicks and teenage superheroes from the DC Universe. It paralled the previous teenage team, Teen Titans, with many of the same names (though not the same characters) as that team when it started. It grew and shrank over time, as most comic teams do, but what set it apart from other comics was that it had a wild sense of "fun" to it; one of the first "villains" they went up against was Mightly Endowed, whose power was she was able to hypnotize people with her... yeah, they were definitely having fun with the title. They were teenagers who were superheros, and it rarely, if ever, veered into heavy drama or dark themes. It was very much having fun at what it was doing.
YJ ended at about 60 or so issues, making way for most of the cast to transfer over to the relaunch of the new Teen Titans book. While kinda sad, it was the ever evolving way of comics, and while most of the newly created characters from YJ disappeared entirely for the most part, the core group continued on.
Now before this series, DC has had some strange up and downs with their franchises animated fare. Batman: TAS long ago set a high standard for cartoon series of any kind, bringing a much needed gravity and solid story to children's television programing. It was such a hit, and such good writing, it actually affected the comic it was based on, with several characters transferring into the series from the show (Harley Quinn and Dec. Montoya), and a few others getting their backstories rewritten because the TV shows was so much better (Mr. Freeze). The show petered off over the years, losing it's stylish art deco look and darker styling to meld with the more simplier animation styling of fellow DC show, Superman (not a bad show in it's own right). Over the past two decades, Batman has been animated in one form or another almost continueally.
Batman and Superman had their own shows, even had a team-up show, and really it was up to them to have DC on animated television in any capacity. Of the nine animated shows from DC, only one didn't directly involved those two in a major way. No Wonder Woman, no Flash, no one else had their own show.
In 2001, Justice League premeired and it was good. Finally bringing to light other big names of the DCU, and finally getting some females on screen, it was hit and ran for about six years (four on it owns, two more with Unlimited which skyrocketed the cast from 7 to almost 60).
And now we have Young Justice the series. Still tied to the bigger names, but with emphasis on the younger generation. While the adults still poke their heads in, the show and its creators have said multiple times that this is about teenagers who happen to be superheroes.
A quick breakdown; the first episode, a two parter, is the quentisensial origin story. Teen heroes (don't call them sidekicks) Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy are supposed to begin their intitation rights to becoming full members of the Justice League. Psych! Really they aren't even trusted with basic information, like that the big flashy HQ isn't the real thing. Speedy, the oldest of the four and itching for legitimacy, acts a douche and storms off. The other three hear about a fire at a maybe sketchy company called Project Cadmus. They investigate when the rest of the League gets distracted with a blot-out-the-sun deal, finding all is not well in Washington DC (make your own joke there), as well as stumbling upon a clone of Superman, the aptly named Superboy, created as a weapon and possible Superman replacement. Fighting, explosions, teamwork, and the newly bonded four defeat Blockbuster, aka "Scientist-who-drinks-the-"that's-not-Kool-Aid"-glowing-in-that-testtube", as well as exposing their actions of defying orders to stay put. The four don't back down, saying they'll do it again. Instead of just saying no, or attempting to ban them from hero work, the League instead sactions them, giving them their own base of operations, as well over some adult oversight. To cap it off, a fifth member, the only girl so far named Miss Martian. Included at the very end is teaser stuff for the overarching plot of the first season.
All in all, I'm excited for the series, which starts in full in Janurary. The animation looks tight and fluid, the voice acting is impressive and flows nicely, and the characters are being treated with respect to their history. Not a bad way to start.
The universe this show inhabits is not that of past DC shows. In fact, it's the first to be set in it's own universe, Earth-15 for the true geeks out there. This is done for several reasons, a) starting as fresh as possible, b) it makes the concept of superheroes relatively young, about 10 years or so since Superman appeared on the scene, and c) this show isn't reliant on past shows or their histories to work around. YJ has the freedom to interpret characters as they wish, as well as build their own superhero mythology.
Speaking of mythology, the show is a wide blend of past shows, the comics, the many characters who share the same name and a little bit of newly created stuff. As has been said, the show is 97% comic lore. And if one knows their comic geekery, it's evident.
An early criticism I had with the show, which I've since put to rest, was the lack of female inclusion. Only one actual female character speaks the whole episode, and that doesn't happen until the last three minutes. The rest is a boys club, even among the adults. While I'd've liked a stronger female showing, it'll get fixed over time (episode six introduces the second lead female, Artemis, episode 22 is hinted to bring in YJ alum Wonder Girl), it actually makes sense to YJ history. The first few issues were totally a boys club, with Robin, Superboy and Impulse (later Kid Flash) being the only names for the first short run. Later, in an issue whose cover even made fun of the "no girls til this point", Wonder Girl, Arrowette and Secret join the team.
To the characters; they stick to what started it all, Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy. Robin is the youngest, and his size and demeaner shows it. He really works the Batman/Robin angle of him being the distraction. But he's a blend of other Robins as well, being the techno wizard of the group, something the original Dick Grayson wasn't.
Kid Flash is alright, nothing really new with him. He'll probably be given more as the show progresses, but for now he's not given much in terms of history. I do like that they didn't play the speedster/low impulse control angle. He's also allowed to say the most, speaking his mind first before the others.
Superboy is going to have some major arcs through the show, as in universe he's only 16 weeks old. He has some major anger issues on top of feeling out of place; he's a clone, knows he's a clone, and will fight anyone who takes issue with that. I've read some reviews that take issue with his dialog (he has a particular narmy line during their escape) but it reads true to the character; he's angry and wants to let loose to settle the score.
Aqualad has the most difference between him and any established DC character. He's black, to start with, and it's any easy thing to get out of the way. The show needed a character of color, for any number of reasons, and he gave them the most leyway to do so with. He's also pretty badass, having the most diverse power skill set, and has been confirmed as leader for the team. He was a great weight about him, and looks to be a good addition to the already established group.
Speedy, lost in the first eight minutes, wants respect. So much that he'll walk out on everyone if he thinks he isn't getting it. He has his own issues, but is said to return as a new hero later on. I'm not sure why they decided to loose him, but I can think of a few; in universe he's probably the oldest and the most tired of living in their mentor's shadow. YJ had their own archer, Arrowette, and Speedy had long gone his own way by the time this team was created. Also, from a ratio standpoint, he would've really thrown off the gender curve with five guys to only two girls.
Miss Martian, who doesn't show her face until almost the literal last second, is an unknown at the moment. She appears to be very shy and very new to superheroing in general. Artemis, who hasn't even appeared yet, looks to be chick-with-cool-attitude, being the sharpshooter/archer of the group, as well as the second with no real superpowers (the first being Robin). I can whine about not having more or better established females, but I'm okay with this. Miss M, not being very well known, has a wider field to play for her character, and Artemis fills a role that should've been Arrowette's but there's hopefully a reason to it. And it not like these will be the only females, the show will more than likely add other characters for individual episodes as it goes on.
As for other characters, the show makes good use of the giant DC Universe character roster, and said they'll make use of them as often as possible, creating new ones only when they have a need so specific no already established character can fill it. The main villain of the episode, the four ice villains in the first few minutes, the lower-tier superhero who's a mook for the villain, the not-really-evil guy, even the lab assistant, all have basis in DC lore.
Even better is there's no Bat-Embargo on the show (the BE was a block on any non-Batman centric show, forbidding the use of any known or established character from any Batman series, heroes and villains alike, expect for Batman himself) so they're free to use villains and characters as they wish, Robin included. When production started they weren't allowed use of Wonder Girl because the property was possibly going to go into use, and they don't like competeting shows with the same characters, but that fell through or was worked out so she'll make her appearance later on. Kinda nice she'd be the only original YJ female member, as Miss Martian, cool as she looks to be, never appeared in the YJ comics at all, and Artemis isn't a known heroine at all, developed solely for the show (though she is hinted to be an already known character, and as she'll be Green Arrow's new protege, it's fairly clear she's Mia Dearden, GA's second Speedy and first female sidekick).
I love action series, and the animated shows really get me even more so. I'm long out of the show's pre-set demographic, but I don't care. The creators themselves even say they don't want to appeal just to one audience, they want to appeal to everyone. And I think they'll get a lot of them.
The show looks to be in good hands. The worst thing that might happen is Cartoon Network cuts it off because they don't get the ratings they want, regardless of how well the show does critically or in numbers. Hopefully not, with luck they'll reach at least 65 episodes (the cutoff any show needs to be syndicated) and keep going.
If anything pisses me off right now, it's that I don't have cable television. Youtube is my only hope right now, but I'll be scrapping money together as soon as the DVD set comes out.
Young Justice: the Series
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
Young Justice is a new animated series on Cartoon Network, created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti, Weisman the creator of Gargoyles and producer of Spectacular Spider-Man, so that's a well endorsed resume, and frankly the show looks to kick. ASS.
I have a history with the comic YJ. It was the first series I seriously followed, having previously only watched cartoons based on comics and collected various titles sporadically. But with YJ, I read and bought as many back and current issues as I could, because I just loved it.
It's times like this I wish I had a webcam to do this stuff.
Young Justice, to explain, was a team of sidekicks and teenage superheroes from the DC Universe. It paralled the previous teenage team, Teen Titans, with many of the same names (though not the same characters) as that team when it started. It grew and shrank over time, as most comic teams do, but what set it apart from other comics was that it had a wild sense of "fun" to it; one of the first "villains" they went up against was Mightly Endowed, whose power was she was able to hypnotize people with her... yeah, they were definitely having fun with the title. They were teenagers who were superheros, and it rarely, if ever, veered into heavy drama or dark themes. It was very much having fun at what it was doing.
YJ ended at about 60 or so issues, making way for most of the cast to transfer over to the relaunch of the new Teen Titans book. While kinda sad, it was the ever evolving way of comics, and while most of the newly created characters from YJ disappeared entirely for the most part, the core group continued on.
Now before this series, DC has had some strange up and downs with their franchises animated fare. Batman: TAS long ago set a high standard for cartoon series of any kind, bringing a much needed gravity and solid story to children's television programing. It was such a hit, and such good writing, it actually affected the comic it was based on, with several characters transferring into the series from the show (Harley Quinn and Dec. Montoya), and a few others getting their backstories rewritten because the TV shows was so much better (Mr. Freeze). The show petered off over the years, losing it's stylish art deco look and darker styling to meld with the more simplier animation styling of fellow DC show, Superman (not a bad show in it's own right). Over the past two decades, Batman has been animated in one form or another almost continueally.
Batman and Superman had their own shows, even had a team-up show, and really it was up to them to have DC on animated television in any capacity. Of the nine animated shows from DC, only one didn't directly involved those two in a major way. No Wonder Woman, no Flash, no one else had their own show.
In 2001, Justice League premeired and it was good. Finally bringing to light other big names of the DCU, and finally getting some females on screen, it was hit and ran for about six years (four on it owns, two more with Unlimited which skyrocketed the cast from 7 to almost 60).
And now we have Young Justice the series. Still tied to the bigger names, but with emphasis on the younger generation. While the adults still poke their heads in, the show and its creators have said multiple times that this is about teenagers who happen to be superheroes.
A quick breakdown; the first episode, a two parter, is the quentisensial origin story. Teen heroes (don't call them sidekicks) Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy are supposed to begin their intitation rights to becoming full members of the Justice League. Psych! Really they aren't even trusted with basic information, like that the big flashy HQ isn't the real thing. Speedy, the oldest of the four and itching for legitimacy, acts a douche and storms off. The other three hear about a fire at a maybe sketchy company called Project Cadmus. They investigate when the rest of the League gets distracted with a blot-out-the-sun deal, finding all is not well in Washington DC (make your own joke there), as well as stumbling upon a clone of Superman, the aptly named Superboy, created as a weapon and possible Superman replacement. Fighting, explosions, teamwork, and the newly bonded four defeat Blockbuster, aka "Scientist-who-drinks-the-"that's-not-Kool-Aid"-glowing-in-that-testtube", as well as exposing their actions of defying orders to stay put. The four don't back down, saying they'll do it again. Instead of just saying no, or attempting to ban them from hero work, the League instead sactions them, giving them their own base of operations, as well over some adult oversight. To cap it off, a fifth member, the only girl so far named Miss Martian. Included at the very end is teaser stuff for the overarching plot of the first season.
All in all, I'm excited for the series, which starts in full in Janurary. The animation looks tight and fluid, the voice acting is impressive and flows nicely, and the characters are being treated with respect to their history. Not a bad way to start.
The universe this show inhabits is not that of past DC shows. In fact, it's the first to be set in it's own universe, Earth-15 for the true geeks out there. This is done for several reasons, a) starting as fresh as possible, b) it makes the concept of superheroes relatively young, about 10 years or so since Superman appeared on the scene, and c) this show isn't reliant on past shows or their histories to work around. YJ has the freedom to interpret characters as they wish, as well as build their own superhero mythology.
Speaking of mythology, the show is a wide blend of past shows, the comics, the many characters who share the same name and a little bit of newly created stuff. As has been said, the show is 97% comic lore. And if one knows their comic geekery, it's evident.
An early criticism I had with the show, which I've since put to rest, was the lack of female inclusion. Only one actual female character speaks the whole episode, and that doesn't happen until the last three minutes. The rest is a boys club, even among the adults. While I'd've liked a stronger female showing, it'll get fixed over time (episode six introduces the second lead female, Artemis, episode 22 is hinted to bring in YJ alum Wonder Girl), it actually makes sense to YJ history. The first few issues were totally a boys club, with Robin, Superboy and Impulse (later Kid Flash) being the only names for the first short run. Later, in an issue whose cover even made fun of the "no girls til this point", Wonder Girl, Arrowette and Secret join the team.
To the characters; they stick to what started it all, Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy. Robin is the youngest, and his size and demeaner shows it. He really works the Batman/Robin angle of him being the distraction. But he's a blend of other Robins as well, being the techno wizard of the group, something the original Dick Grayson wasn't.
Kid Flash is alright, nothing really new with him. He'll probably be given more as the show progresses, but for now he's not given much in terms of history. I do like that they didn't play the speedster/low impulse control angle. He's also allowed to say the most, speaking his mind first before the others.
Superboy is going to have some major arcs through the show, as in universe he's only 16 weeks old. He has some major anger issues on top of feeling out of place; he's a clone, knows he's a clone, and will fight anyone who takes issue with that. I've read some reviews that take issue with his dialog (he has a particular narmy line during their escape) but it reads true to the character; he's angry and wants to let loose to settle the score.
Aqualad has the most difference between him and any established DC character. He's black, to start with, and it's any easy thing to get out of the way. The show needed a character of color, for any number of reasons, and he gave them the most leyway to do so with. He's also pretty badass, having the most diverse power skill set, and has been confirmed as leader for the team. He was a great weight about him, and looks to be a good addition to the already established group.
Speedy, lost in the first eight minutes, wants respect. So much that he'll walk out on everyone if he thinks he isn't getting it. He has his own issues, but is said to return as a new hero later on. I'm not sure why they decided to loose him, but I can think of a few; in universe he's probably the oldest and the most tired of living in their mentor's shadow. YJ had their own archer, Arrowette, and Speedy had long gone his own way by the time this team was created. Also, from a ratio standpoint, he would've really thrown off the gender curve with five guys to only two girls.
Miss Martian, who doesn't show her face until almost the literal last second, is an unknown at the moment. She appears to be very shy and very new to superheroing in general. Artemis, who hasn't even appeared yet, looks to be chick-with-cool-attitude, being the sharpshooter/archer of the group, as well as the second with no real superpowers (the first being Robin). I can whine about not having more or better established females, but I'm okay with this. Miss M, not being very well known, has a wider field to play for her character, and Artemis fills a role that should've been Arrowette's but there's hopefully a reason to it. And it not like these will be the only females, the show will more than likely add other characters for individual episodes as it goes on.
As for other characters, the show makes good use of the giant DC Universe character roster, and said they'll make use of them as often as possible, creating new ones only when they have a need so specific no already established character can fill it. The main villain of the episode, the four ice villains in the first few minutes, the lower-tier superhero who's a mook for the villain, the not-really-evil guy, even the lab assistant, all have basis in DC lore.
Even better is there's no Bat-Embargo on the show (the BE was a block on any non-Batman centric show, forbidding the use of any known or established character from any Batman series, heroes and villains alike, expect for Batman himself) so they're free to use villains and characters as they wish, Robin included. When production started they weren't allowed use of Wonder Girl because the property was possibly going to go into use, and they don't like competeting shows with the same characters, but that fell through or was worked out so she'll make her appearance later on. Kinda nice she'd be the only original YJ female member, as Miss Martian, cool as she looks to be, never appeared in the YJ comics at all, and Artemis isn't a known heroine at all, developed solely for the show (though she is hinted to be an already known character, and as she'll be Green Arrow's new protege, it's fairly clear she's Mia Dearden, GA's second Speedy and first female sidekick).
I love action series, and the animated shows really get me even more so. I'm long out of the show's pre-set demographic, but I don't care. The creators themselves even say they don't want to appeal just to one audience, they want to appeal to everyone. And I think they'll get a lot of them.
The show looks to be in good hands. The worst thing that might happen is Cartoon Network cuts it off because they don't get the ratings they want, regardless of how well the show does critically or in numbers. Hopefully not, with luck they'll reach at least 65 episodes (the cutoff any show needs to be syndicated) and keep going.
If anything pisses me off right now, it's that I don't have cable television. Youtube is my only hope right now, but I'll be scrapping money together as soon as the DVD set comes out.
Young Justice: the Series
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4